Sawt Falasteen - Seven Colombian soldiers killed in guerrilla attack: army

Founded in 1964 and inspired by the Cuban revolution, the ELN is the oldest surviving guerrilla group in the Americas, and controls key drug-producing regions of Colombia. Efforts to negotiate a peace settlement have repeatedly stalled.

The Thursday night attack on the rural military outpost in Aguachica, near the border with Venezuela, was the second deadly clash with security forces in a week. Two police officers were killed Tuesday in Cali.

"I categorically reject the ELN's terrorist action using drones and launching of explosive devices against a Military Base," Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X early Friday, adding that the group "must be completely dismantled."

He reported the deaths of six soldiers. The army updated the casualty toll to reporters later Friday, with seven dead and 30 wounded.

Videos circulating on social media showed wounded soldiers being brought into a local medical center on stretchers and in wheelchairs, and a fire reportedly caused by explosions at the military outpost.

After taking power in 2022, President Gustavo Petro, himself a former guerrilla, attempted to engage well-armed cocaine-producing groups in talks, rather than conduct open warfare. But negotiations faltered.

In October, the United States imposed sanctions on Petro for his alleged reluctance to target the cartels.

Washington, conducting a campaign against alleged narco-trafficking off the coast of Venezuela, has warned Petro that he could "be next" over his country's mass cocaine production.

Colombia is the world's top cocaine producer, according to the UN.

The ELN, which is present in over a fifth of Colombia's 1,100-plus municipalities, vowed last week to fight for Colombia's "defense" in the face of US "threats of imperialist intervention."

I.Matar--SF-PST